Dying Star: The Twilight Saga
by MasonLoganTaylorMatthews
Summary: The conclusion to my version of "The Twilight Saga" The story of Breaking Dawn told through the eyes of Ben Swan and Julia Black. Basically it's Breaking Dawn with the main characters' genders switched. Please Read and Review
1. Chapter 1: Engaged

PREFACE

I'D HAD MORE THAN MY FAIR SHARE OF NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCES; IT WASN'T SOMETHING THAT YOU EVER REALLY GOT USE TO.

It seemed oddly inevitable, though, facing death yet again. Like I really was marked for disaster. I'd escaped time and time again, but it kept coming back for me.

Still, this time was different from the others. You could run from someone you feared, you could try to fight someone you hated. All my reactions were geared toward those kinds of killers—the monsters, the enemies.

When you loved the one who was killing you, it left you no options. How could you run, how could you fight, when doing so would hurt that beloved one? If your life was all you have to give your beloved, how could you not give it?

If it was someone you truly loved?

ENGAGED

**NO ONE IS STARING AT YOU, I PROMISED MYSELF. NO ONE IS STARTING AT YOU. NO ONE IS STARING AT YOU.**

But, because I couldn't lie convincingly even to myself, I had to check.

As I sat watching for one of the three traffic lights in town to turn green, I peeked to the right—in her minivan, Mrs. Weber had turned her whole torso in my direction. Her eyes bored into mine, and I flinched back, wondering why she didn't drop her gaze or look ashamed. It was still considered rude to stare at people, wasn't it? Didn't that apply to me anymore?

Then I remembered that these windows were so darkly tinted that she probably had no idea if it was even me in here, let alone that I'd caught her looking. I tried to take some comfort in the fact that she wasn't really staring at me, just the car.

My car. Sigh.

I glanced to the left and groaned. Two pedestrians were frozen on the sidewalk, missing their chance to cross the street as they stared. The light turned green and, in my hurry to escape I slammed on the gas pedal. The engine snarled liked a hunting panther, the car jolted forward so fast that my body slammed into the black leather seat and my stomach flattened against my spine. I didn't care; I just drove, at a very illegal speed. After a minute I slowed down, reaching my final destination. I sat in the car for a few minutes, taking in very deep breaths. After I was calm enough, I unfastened my seatbelt, and exited from the car.

My poor mother had so much to deal with right now. The disappearance of my best friend, Julia, her best friend's daughter, had added to her anxiety. Though, in truth Julia wasn't truly missing. She had run away, right after the battle between us and the newborns, when she had healed from her encounter with one of them. After I had visited her when she was still in bed, bandaged up, bones broken, and told her that I had picked Eliza over her, she ran. And I could not blame her. I had put her through so much that it was easier for her to leave everything behind and run free as a wolf. And though she tried very hard to go with instinct and not be "human" she'd slip every now and then and alert the others to where she was. Seth had told me that the last they heard she was somewhere in Canada.

But the public story was that she had taken her bike and drove off in the middle of the night. My mom spent countless hours trying to find her, putting up Missing Person posters all over town, and the two towns over, and of course she got nothing. And to add to her stress, she was very worried about me, her barely-a-legal-adult son getting married.

I walked slowly through the light rain, remembering the night we'd told her….

As the sound of Charlotte's cruiser announced her return, my heart started to beat very fast. I looked over at Eliza's left hand, where the ring was placed proudly. Seeing it made my heart beat even faster, and I began to sweat and move around like a little boy who had just broken a neighbor's window with a baseball.

"Stop fidgeting, Ben. Please try to remember that you're not confessing to murder here."

"That's easy for you to say."

I listen to the ominous sound of my mother's boots clomping up the sidewalk. The key rattled in the already open door. The sound reminded me of that part in the horror movie when the victim realizes that they forgot to lock the deadbolt.

"Calm down, Ben," Eliza whispered. The door slammed against the wall, and I flinched liked I'd just been Tasered.

"Evening, Charlotte," Eliza called, entirely relaxed.

"No!" I protested under my breath.

"What?" Eliza whispered back.

"Wait till she hangs her gun up!"

Eliza chuckled and ran her free hand through her perfectly combed bronze hair. Charlotte came around the corner, still in her uniform, still armed, and tried not to make a face when she spied us sitting together on the loveseat. Lately, she'd been putting forth a lot of effort to like Eliza more. Of course, this little revelation was sure to end the effort immediately.

"Hey, kids. What's up?"

"We'd like to talk to you," Eliza said, so serene. "We have some good news."

Charlotte's expression went from strained friendliness to black suspicion in a second.

"Good news?" Charlotte growled, looking straight at me.

"Have a seat, Mom."

She raised one eyebrow, stared at me for at least five seconds, then stomped to the recliner and sat down on the very edge, her back ramrod straight.

"Don't get worked up, Mom," I said after a moment of loaded silence. "Everything is okay."

Eliza grimaced, and I knew it was in objection to the word okay. She probably would have used something more like wonderful or perfect or glorious.

"Sure it is, Ben, sure it is. If everything is so great, then why are you sweating bullets?"

"I'm not sweating," I lied.

I leaned away from her fierce scowl, cringing into Eliza, and instinctively wiped the back of my right hand across my forehead to remove the evidence.

"SHE'S PREGNANT!" Charlotte exploded. "You got her pregnant, didn't you?"

Though the question was for me, she was glaring at Eliza, and I could have sworn I saw her hand twitch toward the gun.

"No! Eliza's not pregnant." I wanted to elbow Eliza in the ribs, but I knew that in doing so I'd only give myself a bruise. I'd told Eliza that people would jump to that conclusion. What other possible reason would sane people have for getting married at eighteen? (Her answer then had made me roll my eyes. Love. Right.)

Charlotte's red face faded into a normal color. It was pretty easy to tell when I was lying.

"Oh…sorry." There was a long pause. After a moment, I realized that everyone was waiting for me to say something. I sighed and looked down at Eliza, and then over at my mother.

"Mom, I love her. I love her more than anything else in the world, more than my own life, and—by some miracle she feels the same way, too. We're getting married, Mom." I was surprised at how easy the words came out, how sure I sounded. It was like I had experienced a rare moment of insight. For the length of the time it took me to say those words, the news made perfect sense to me, it felt right.

My mom's face was hard to read. All I could tell was that she had her eyes locked on the ring on Eliza's left hand. I held my breath while her skin changed colors—fair to red, red to purple, purple to blue. I started to get up—but Eliza squeezed my hand and murmured. "Give her a minute." The silence was much longer this time. Then, gradually, shade by shade, Charlotte's color returned to normal. Her lips pursed, and her eyebrows furrowed; I recognized her "deep in thought" expression. She studied the two of us for a long moment, and I felt Eliza relaxed at my side.

"Guess I'm not surprised," Charlotte grumbled. "Knew I'd have to deal with something like this sooner or later."

I exhaled.

"You sure about this?" Charlotte demanded, glaring at me.

"I'm one hundred percent sure about Eliza," I told her without missing a beat.

"Getting married, though?" What's the rush?" She eyed me suspiciously again.

The rush was due to the fact that I was getting closer to nineteen every day, while Eliza stayed frozen in all her seventeen-year-old perfection, as she had for over ninety years. Not that this fact necessitated marriage in my book, but the wedding was required due to the delicate and tangled compromise Eliza and I had made to finally get to this point, the brink of my transformation from human to vampire.

These weren't things that I could explain to Charlotte.

"We're going away to Dartmouth in the fall, Charlotte," Eliza reminded her. "I'd like to do that, well the right way. It's how I was raised." She shrugged.

She wasn't exaggerating; they'd been big on old-fashion morals during World War I.

Charlotte's mouth twisted to the side. Looking for any angle to argue from. But what could she say? _I'd prefer you live in sin first? _She was a mom; her hands were tied.

"Knew this was coming," she muttered to herself, frowning. Then, suddenly, her face went perfectly smooth and blank.

"Mom?" I asked anxiously. I glanced at Eliza, but I couldn't read her face, either, as she watched Charlotte.

"Ha!" Charlotte exploded. I jumped in my seat. "Ha, ha, ha!"

I stared incredulously as Charlotte doubled over in laughter; her whole body shook with it. I looked at Eliza for translation, but Eliza her lips pressed slightly together, like she was trying to hold back from laughing herself.

"Okay, fine," Charlotte choked out. "Get married." Another roll of laughter shook through her. "But…"

"But what?" I demanded.

"But you have to tell your dad! I'm not saying one word to Ryan! That's all yours!" She burst into loud guffaws.

I came back to reality as I put my hand on the front door knob. A light laugh came from my mouth, as I remembered how terrified I'd been of telling my father; the ultimate horror. Teenage marriage was higher up on Ryan's blacklist than boiling puppies alive. I was so sure that he was going yell at me for hours, that he'd refuse to come to the wedding, but I could've never predicted what would come from his mouth, maybe Alice would've, but I didn't think to ask her.

There was a sigh, and then my father spoke. "Well Ben, I'm a little miffed that you didn't tell me sooner, plane tickets only got more expensive."

I couldn't believe it; my father was only upset that the tickets were going to cost more. Who was this man and what had he done to my father?

"Dad, what do you mean, 'told you sooner'?" I said through the receiver. "Eliza and I just got…I mean I just asked her."

My dad laughed. "Oh really? I just assumed…"

"What did you assume, Dad?"

"Well back when y'all visited me a month ago I just assumed that something like this was going to happen." I couldn't believe the words that were coming from his mouth. Where was the anger, the lecture that I had been so sure that was going to come?

"Do you truly love her, Ben?"

"Yes, but…"

"Will you ever want anyone else?"

"No, but…"

"Does she make you happy?"

"Yes, but…"

"But what?"

"Aren't you going to tell me I sound like every other love-struck teenager?"

My father laughed, and I fell further into confusion.

"Ben, you aren't making my mistakes, you sound like you're scared stiff. Besides you've never really been a teenager. You've always been much more mature than others; you're an old soul, who found another."

His words brought comfort to me. They were honest and true and just what I needed to hear from him. We talked for about an hour afterwards, discussing details, when the wedding was going to be.

Charlotte had not been pleased with my father. The ultimate threat, telling Ryan, had been nothing. He was happy for me, and now Charlotte had nothing. So she spent most of the time sulking around.

I entered my house, and called out for my mom.

"In here, Ben—Ouch, Alice you pricked me."

Alice? I walked into the living room where I saw my mother, standing on top of a stool, with Alice fussing around her, finishing fitting her dress.

"I'm bleeding on the dress now, aren't I?" My mother asked.

"You're fine Charlotte, I didn't even pierce the skin. Trust me," Alice said smiling at me. I smiled too. Alice looked at me and pointed to a black garment bag that was lying on the couch.

"This is your final fitting too. Go to your room and put on the tux, I'll be with you in a moment." I didn't argue. I simply grabbed the black bag and went to my room.

The tux was nice. A deep onyx black, fashioned to appear as if it was from the twenties. It fitted nicely. I had to give it to Alice; she really did know her stuff. There was a knock at my door.

"Come in, Alice." Alice entered the room, and smiled.

"You look absolutely stunning, Ben!" I laughed.

"I guess, it doesn't matter. Everyone will have their eyes on Eliza; she is the bride after all."

Alice slapped me on my arm, not enough to hurt. "Don't underestimate yourself, Ben. And even if you're right, Eliza will fall in-love all over again."

"She's already seen me in it, in your mind."

"No she hasn't. I've been very careful not to think about you around her. Now, stand still and go to your happy place, I just have to make a few adjustments. I sighed and stood still, going to my happy place. I thought of Eliza, and smiled.


	2. Chapter 2: Last Night

LONG NIGHT

**"I MISS YOU ALREADY." **

"Then don't leave. Stay."

"Mmm."

It was quiet for a long moment, just the thud of my heart hammering, the broken rhythm of our ragged breathing, and the whisper of our lips moving in synchronization. Sometimes it was easy to forget that I was kissing a vampire. Not because she seemed ordinary or human—I could never for a second forget that I was holding someone more angel than human in my arms—but because she made it seem like nothing at all to have my lips against her's, my face, my throat. She claimed that she'd long gotten over the temptation my blood used to be for her, that the idea of losing me forever had cured her of any desire for it. But I knew that the smell of my blood still caused her pain—still burned her throat like she was inhaling flames.

I opened my eyes and found her's open, too, staring at me. It made no sense for her to stare at me like that. Like I was the prize rather than the outrageously lucky winner. Our gazes locked; her golden eyes were so deep that I could've sworn I could see all the way into the soul she was so convinced that she didn't have. It seemed so silly to me that she could've ever questioned its existence. She had, without a doubt, the most beautiful soul that ever existed. It was more beautiful than her brilliant smile, or her incomparable face or her glorious body.

She couldn't read my mind, the way she could everyone else's. Who knew why—some strange glitch in my brain that made me immune to all the extraordinary, and frightening things some immortals could do. And I was grateful for that, it would be too humiliating for her to know everything that I thought about her. I pulled her face to mine again.

"I'll be staying," she murmured a moment later.

"No, no. It's your bachelorette party. You have to go." I said the words, but the fingers on my right hand locked into her brilliant reddish-brown hair, my left hand pressing tighter against the small of her back. Her cool hands stroked my face.

"Bachelorette parties are designed for those who are sad to see the passing of their single days. I couldn't be more eager to have mine behind me. So there's really no point."

"True." I breathed against the winter-cold skin of her throat.

This was pretty close to my happy place. Charlotte slept obliviously in her room, which was almost as good as being alone. We were curled up on my small bed, intertwined despite the cold. I ran my hand down her smooth, cool, white face, down her throat, and her arm. A light shudder rippled through her, and her mouth found mine again. Carefully, I let the tip of my tongue press against her glass-smooth lips, and she sighed. Her sweet breath washed—cold and delicious—over my face.

She started to pull away—that was her automatic response whenever she decided that things were getting too serious. Eliza had spent most of her life rejecting any kind of physical gratification. I knew it was terrifying to her trying to change those habits now.

"Practice makes perfect, you know." I told her with a smirk. She chuckled.

"Well we should be fairly close to perfection by this point, then, shouldn't we?"

"But this is the dress rehearsal," I reminded her, "and we've only practiced certain scenes. It's no time for playing safe." I thought she'd laugh, but she didn't answer, and her body was motionless with sudden stress. Her gold eyes seemed to go from a liquid to a solid. I went through my words in my head, and realized what she would've heard in them.

"Ben…," she whispered.

"Don't start again," I said. "A deal's a deal."

"I don't know. It's too hard to concentrate when you're with me like this. I—I can't think straight. I won't be able to control myself. You'll get hurt."

"I'll be fine."

"Ben…"

"Shh!" I pressed my lips to her's to stop her panic attack. I'd heard it before. She wasn't going to back out of her end of the deal. But not after I married her first.

She kissed me back for a moment, but I could tell she wasn't as passionate about it as before. Worrying, always worrying. How different would it be when she no longer had to worry about me anymore? What would she do with all the spare time? She'd have to pick up a hobby.

"How are your feet?" she asked.

Knowing she didn't mean it literally, I answered, "Toasty warm."

"Really? No second thoughts? It's not too late to change your mind."

"Are you trying to get rid of me?"

She chuckled. "Just making sure. I don't want you to do anything you're not sure about."

"I'm sure about you! The rest I can live through."

She hesitated, and I wondered if I'd put my foot in my mouth…again.

"Can you?" she asked quietly. "I don't mean the wedding—which I'm positive you will survive despite your qualms—but afterwards…what about Ryan and Charlotte?"

I sighed. "I'll miss them." Worse, that they would miss me, but I didn't want to give her any fuel. "Eliza, we've been through this and through this. I know it will be hard, but this is what I want. I want you, and I want you forever. One lifetime isn't enough for me."

"Frozen forever at eighteen," she whispered.

"Every person's dream come true," I teased.

"Never changing…never moving forward."

"What does that mean?"

She answered slowly. "Do you remember when we told your mother we were getting married? And she thought that I was…pregnant?"

"And she thought about shooting you," I guessed with a laugh. "Admit it—for a second, she honestly considered it."

She didn't answer.

"What, Eliza?"

"I just wish…well, I wish that she'd been right."

"What?" I asked.

"I hate taking that away from you, too. Ben, you'd be a great father, and I can't give you children. You may not care now, but what about in a hundred years? Look at Emmett, he would give up immortality for the chance to have a baby, it hurts him that he can't."

It took me a minute. "Eliza I know what I'm doing. And if it's a problem down the line, we'll do what Esme and Carlisle did—we'll adopt."

She sighed and then her voice was fierce. "It's not right! I don't want you to have to make sacrifices for me. I want to give you things not take them away. If I was human—"

I stopped her. "You are my future. Now stop. No moping, or I'm calling your sisters to come and get you. Maybe you need a bachelorette party."

"I'm sorry. I am moping, aren't I? Must be the nerves."

"Are your feet cold?"

"No—I've waited a century to marry you Mr. Swan." She smiled and kissed me, and then she broke away and sighed heavily. "Oh for the love of all that's holy!"

"What's wrong?"

She gritted her teeth. "You don't have to worry about calling my sisters. Apparently Rosalie and Alice aren't going to let me bow out tonight. I hugged her close for a moment, and then let her go.

"Have fun."

There was a squeal against the glass of the window—someone deliberately scraping their steel nails across the glass to make a horrible, cover your ears, goosebumps down your spine noise. I shuddered.

"Send her out, Ben, or we're coming in to get her," Rosalie said.

I laughed. "Go! Before they break my house."

Eliza rolled her eyes, but got to her feet in one fluid motion. She leaned down in kissed my forehead.

"Get to sleep. You've got a big day tomorrow."

"Oh now I'll defiantly will be able to go to sleep."

"I'll meet you at the alter."

"I'll be the guy on the left."

She chuckled, said, "Very convincing," and then suddenly sank into a crouch, her muscles coiled like a spring. She vanished—launching herself out of my window too swiftly for my eyes to follow.

Outside, there was a muted thud, and I heard Rosalie curse.

"You'd better not make her late," I murmured, knowing that they could hear.

And then Alice's face was peering into the window.

"Don't worry, Ben. We'll have her back in plenty of time."

"Alice, they're aren't going to be any strippers, are there?"

"Don't tell him anything," Rosalie ordered.

"Relax," Alice told me. "We Cullens have our own version. Just a few mountain lions, maybe a couple of bears." And with that she too vanished.

I lay against my pillow and my eyelids became heavy. This was the last night in my room. My last night as a "free man." Tomorrow I would be a Cullen, well technically Eliza would be taking my name, but still. I closed my eyes, and let exhaustion take over.


	3. Chapter 3: Wedding

**THE VOLTURI SOLDIERS STOOD IN A CIRCLE AROUND SOMETHING OR SOMEONE, AND I HEARD THEIR WHISPERY VOICES ROSE IN AGITATION. **

I edged closer to the cloaks, compelled by the dream to see whatever thing or person they were examining with such intensity. Creeping carefully between two of the tall hissing shrouds, I finally saw the object of their debate, raised up on a little hillock above them.

She was beautiful, adorable, and could only be three years old. Light reddish-brown curls framed her cherubic face with its round cheeks and full lips. And she was trembling, her eyes closed as if too frightened to watch death coming closer ever second.

I was struck with a powerful urge to save the lovely, terrified child that the Volturi, despite all their devastating menace, no longer mattered to me. I shoved past them, not caring if they realized my presence. Breaking free of them altogether, I sprinted toward the girl.

Only to stagger to a halt as I got a clear view of the hillock that she sat upon. It was not earth and rock, but a pile of human bodies, drained and lifeless, Too late not to see these faces. I knew all of them—Alex, Erica, Jesse, Michelle…and directly under the adorable girl were the bodies of my mother and father.

The child opened her bright, blood-red eyes.

My own eyes flew open. I lay shivering and gasping in my warm bed for several minutes, trying to break free from the dream. The sky outside my window turned gray and then pale pink while I waited for my heart to slow.

When I was fully back to the reality of my messy, familiar room, I was a little annoyed with myself. What a dream to have the night before my wedding! Eager off shake off the nightmare, I got dressed and headed downstairs to the kitchen long before I needed to. First I cleaned the already tidy rooms, and then when Charlotte was up I made her pancakes. I was much too keyed to have any interest in eating myself—so I just sat across from her.

"You're picking up Mr. Weber at three o'clock!" I reminded her.

"I don't have that much to do today besides bringing the minister, Ben. I'm not likely to forget my only job." Charlotte had taken the entire day off for the wedding, and she was defiantly on loose ends.

"That's not your only job. You also have to be dressed and presentable."

She scowled into her plate and muttered the words "overgrown Barbie" under her breath. There was a brisk tapping on the front door.

"You think you have it bad, Alice is going to be working on Eliza all day." Charlotte nodded thoughtfully, conceding that she didn't have the lesser ordeal. I got up and walked to the door. Standing outside was Jasper, his hair slicked back. He nodded,

"Morning," he said in a clam tone. I smiled back, and motioned for him to come into the house. I was not use to spending much time with my soon-to-be brother-in-law. Up until last month he wanted nothing more than to take a bite out of me, literally! But after the battle between the Newborns, and letting me in a little, he seemed to be over that.

We walking into the kitchen where my mother was cleaning her plate in the sink.

"Morning, Mrs. Swan," Jasper said, his southern accent almost hidden. My mother turned and smiled, she too wasn't used to seeing Jasper, in fact I'm not sure they truly ever met. "Alice instructed me to come and…collect Ben, to get him ready for this afternoon."

I already knew the drill, and had my garment bag ready to go. My mother nodded her head, and walked over to me. She put her hands on each side of my head and pulled my forehead down. She stood on her tippy-toes and pressed her lips on my forehead.

"See you in a few hours," she whispered. I smiled and nodded in agreement. Jasper and I walked out of the house together. The moment we got into Alice's Porsche he appraised me.

"Oh, hell, look at your eyes!" He _tsked_ in reproach. "Did you stay up all night? Alice won't be happy."

"No one expects me to be stunning," I said in my defense. "Everyone will be looking at Eliza. If I have to take a nap before the wedding, so be it."

Jasper chuckled, "At least you'll have plenty of time to sleep on the plane tomorrow."

I raised my brows. "Tomorrow?" I mused. Jasper bit his bottom lip, realizing that he had given something away.

I glowered groggily out the windshield until we were almost to the house.

"Is she back yet?" I asked.

"Don't worry, she'll be back before the music starts. But you don't get to see her, no matter when she gets back. Both she and Alice want to keep this traditional. I nodded, whatever made her happy.

"Well," I said as we turned into the drive, "I see Alice got to reuse the graduation decorations." Three miles of drive were once again wrapped in hundreds of thousands of twinkle lights. This time white satin bows had been added.

"Waste not, want not, Alice always says," Jasper said. "Enjoy this, because Alice doesn't want you to see the inside decorations until its time." We pulled into the cavernous garage north of the main house.

"Since when does the groom not get to see the decorations?"

"Since he and the bride put Alice in charge." Jasper clapped his hands around my eyes and led me into the house. I was immediately assailed by the scent.

"What is that?" I wondered aloud.

"Is it too much?" Jasper asked worried. "You're the first human in here; I hope we didn't overdo it."

"It smells good—great actually." Jasper carefully led me up two flights of stairs and into his and Alice's room. He closed the door behind him, and finally uncovered my eyes. It was after six-o'clock when Emmett glided past the bedroom door in a dark tux, his dark hair sleeked back, much like Jasper's.

"They're back," Emmett said, and immediately my heart started to pump rapidly. It wasn't long until I felt calm, and I gave Jasper a grateful nod. "Relax, Ben," Emmett said with an oddly sincere smile. He looked over at Jasper, "Alice wants him dressed and ready in thirty minutes. His parents want a moment with him too."

I knew that if Jasper had not been controlling my mood, I'd be a nervous wreck. This was happing all so fast. Jasper took my tux out of the black garment bag, and handed it to me.

"You can change in the bathroom," he said pointing to the door across from the closet. I was immediately shocked by the size of the bathroom. The bathtub itself was the size of a small pool. There was a larger mirror, that took up most of the thirty foot wall, and the lights…God were they bright. I quickly changed, though having trouble with the tie.

"Hey Jasper, do you know where the cufflinks are?" I shouted at the door.

"We have them," a new voice called. The voice belonged to my father. I hastily made my way out of the large bathroom, and back into the bedroom where my parents were standing. Both looked so proud. I smiled and hugged them both. I didn't let go for awhile, it was the first group hug I had ever had with my parents, and it was most likely the last. When I finally let go, we all simply stared at one another, smiling.

"I can't believe you're getting married," my father said, putting his hand on my shoulder. I gave a weak laugh, and agreed with him.

"We, have a present for you, Ben." My mother said, reaching into her small ivory purse.

"Guys, I said no gifts."

"And did you think we would listen?" They both said.

From my mother's purse came a black box. She handed it to me, and smiled. "They were your grandfather's." I looked at her, smiled, and then opened the box. Inside were cufflinks. They were silver, with sapphire stones in the middle. I tried to speak, but couldn't find the right words. My dad took the box from my hands, and started to put the cufflinks on my sleeves.

"Generally the bride gets a family heirloom, but since Eliza was orphaned, we figured you should get something, you know for good luck," my mother said.

"It's something old," my father added as he was finishing.

"And new, we added the sapphires, so that's also blue." My mom added.

"And here is something borrowed," my father said as he took off his silver Rolex. He placed it on my wrist. "And I do mean borrowed, I want that back before you leave tonight!" We all laughed. It was the first time we ever felt like a family.

There was a slight knock at the door. I turned to see Alice standing there. Her normal spiky hair was in gentle curls, and the makeup she was wearing made her already angelic face look even more perfect.

"It's time guys," she said in a soft tone, smiling. As I was processing that, my father patted me on the back and exited the room. My mother gave me a quick hug and followed after him. Alice looked at me,

"Do I need to get Jasper?" She asked.

"No," I said surely. "I'm ready." And with those words I exited the room and went down the stairs.

Alice really had outdone herself, the place was amazing. There are no words to describe the house, or the backyard where the service was to take place. The only way to describe it would be to say that it looked like a fairy tale. I tried to avoid the glares of the guest, especially Michelle Newton. She was absolutely convinced that Eliza was pregnant, and that it was for that only reason I was marrying her. I didn't want her to come, but Alice thought that it would be very rude if we didn't, and that's the end of that.

There were at least fifty people there, most were friends of the Cullens, doctors who Esme worked with. It wasn't hard to spot Tyler and his family, the Denali coven. They, like the Cullens, lived on the blood of animals. Tyler, and his brother Kyle were blond, Eleazar and his wife Carmen were dark haired. I was immediately intimidated when I spotted Tyler, who had tried to woo Eliza long before I was born. I tried not to think of that, I tried not to think of the entire guest, I tried to think of only Eliza.

And suddenly the music began. Everyone got up from their seats and turned. I stood straight, now a good foot taller than the pastor. Seth, who I had made my best man, chuckled and gave me a quick pat on the back. My stomach lurched slightly, the nerves were worse than I thought. My head was dizzy, but somehow I managed to stay standing. And then suddenly the nerves, the dizziness all disappeared. I saw her, my Eliza. She was breathtaking; she always was, but this time…

Her reddish-brown hair was pulled back into a bun; her face glowed from the twinkling white lights. The dress clung to her body perfectly; she looked like she had just stepped out of a Disney movie. Carlisle was walking with her, his face proud, but I barely noticed, all I really saw was her face. It filled my vision and overwhelmed my mind. Her eyes were a buttery, burning gold; her perfect face made even more perfect with the makeup Alice had painted on her. And then she met my awed gaze. She broke into a breathtaking smile of exultation. Soon she was standing before me. I held out my hand, and Carlisle put her's in mine. As soon as her cool hand was in mine, I was home.

Our vows were simple, traditional words that had been spoken a million times, though never by a couple quite like us. The only thing different was the ending. Instead of "till death do us part" we said "as long as we both shall live."

In that moment, as the minister said his part, my world, which had been upside down for so long, seemed to settle into its proper position. I looked down at Eliza's shinning, triumphant eyes, and knew that everything was going to be wonderful. Because nothing else mattered but that I could stay with her for forever. And when it came my time to say the binding words, I did not whisper them, or hesitate, like I thought I might. The words rang clear and victorious.

"I do," I vowed.

Mr. Weber declared us husband and wife, and then my hands cradled Eliza's face. And as I stared into her gold eyes I tried to comprehend that someone so perfect was actually mine. I bent down and pressed my lips to hers. I kissed her tenderly, forgetting the crowd…only remembering that she loved me, that she wanted me, and that I was hers.

She had to end the kiss, and I still clanged to her, ignoring the titters and the throat clearings that came from the audience. On the surface her sudden smile was amused, almost a smirk. But underneath her momentary entertainment at my public exhibition was a deep joy that echoed my own.


End file.
